$163.8 Million London Mansion

August 15, 2011

This 14-bedroom house was built in 1910 for sugar magnate William Park Lyle. It has been restored and extended. It is owned by Andreas Panayiotou, CEO of developer, The Ability Group. He was offered this estate as a development opportunity with planning permission for three new houses. However, he wanted to bring the property back to its former glory. The Grade II-listed property was formerly known as “East Weald” and is now called “Heath Hall.” Heath Hall is located on Bishops Avenue, Hampstead, a road in north London that contains many of the city’s most expensive houses. It is know locally as “Millionaire’s Row” or, more recently, as “Billionaire’s Row.” It was extended to include facilities such as an indoor swimming pool. There is now 27,000 square feet of living space. The grounds cover 2.5 acres and with formal Edwardian-style gardens, a tennis court, outdoor pool and parking for up to 40 cars in addition to the five-car garage. It is listed at a whopping $163,800,000.

Ha. Ha. Ha. I’m not even going to list the numerous homes I could own for the asking price of this…school. Maybe I will: Oceanfront palace in Palm Beach, ranch in Aspen, townhouse in Manhattan, Apartment in Paris and London, plus enough money left over to fill the garages of each place with some serious cars. IF I was foolish enough and had tens of billions to blow, the only place in England where that money is “well spent” is Kensington Palace Gardens. NO WHERE ELSE, including One Hyde Park.

Let’s just assume the $160 million+ pricetag was really something more reasonable, like $16 million. It’s nice, it’s comfortable, and it’s elegant, but where is the detailing? The indoor pool is nice, but look at that living room. Reminds me of Lisa Vanderpump’s home in Beverly Park (Which I would take in a heartbeat over this). The foyer is nice, but again, the details aren’t there.

For $160 million, I not only would demand a pristine location, I would demand a view and not a house, but a work of art. This is not a work of art.

0

0

NOVA Ben

The price is stratospheric and a little hard to wrap my head around. It’s also so high that it’s a joke, so I’ll direct everyone to view Daniel’s comment concerning the price. I must say I’m in agreement with what he had to say about the actual home too…detailing is lacking for a home 1/20th the price, let alone this number.

I do feel that respect is deserved for the current owner, however. He decided AGAINST subdividing, and instead chose to undertake a very expensive restoration and let the home keep its decent (for London) amount of land and retain some of it’s old grandeur. That’s something that not every historic property can claim…that subdividing was passed over in the interest of keeping the land.

0

0

Torin

BIGGEST RIP OFF IN THE WORLD!!!!

Unbelievable, I guess this price tag reflects nations in which contractors show up late, take breaks, and expect the world in return.

LOL! This is $163 million for 27k sq and 2.5 acres? Okay now I’m confused. For that price you could build a Biltmore or something.

0

0

Orlando

if they removed the 1 and the 3 from the price I would probably be interested

0

0

georgethegreek

for 163 mio i expect not less than the WHOLE north london area (about 25 km²)!
well, a good laugh in the morning, mr. panayiotou.

0

0

fazalbhoyz

well such is life in the UK..
pigeon holes are sold for a few millions… so I aint surprised by this 160 mil.
But London’s all bout snob value !

0

0

cv711

I’m not a fan of the house but I’ve followed its development quite closely. Unfortunately what you all fail to realise is that properties in the UK this size are rare beyond belief.

We have something called planning permission, its very strict particularly in places called ‘conservation areas’ such as Hampstead Garden Suburb where this house is. Hence managing to find a house this size, in this area, on the Bishops Avenue is often a once in a life time opportunity. Also this house has a history, it was the former home of the Tate family of Tate and Lyle sugar.

In London getting more than 3000sq/ft is often lucky, north of 10,000 is rare beyond belief and I could probably name every house over 25,000 sq ft in London, they are that rare.

Price is secondary here, its the location. This house will however struggle to sell in my mind for a number of reasons including the lack of an elevator, its lack of security in terms of visiblity from the road and also the level of publicity its received.

Nice house for sure! But that price… Daniel hit the nail on the head (above). o_0 Woah.

0

0

Lisa D

Outrageous and extreme.

0

0

Venom

Did I read that number correctly, $163.8 million?

I want some of the crack this guy is smoking.
I fI met this guy and he told me this price I don’t know whether I would ball up on the floor laughing at him hysterically or slap him in the face.

0

0

NOVA Ben

I would do both. I’d ball up on the floor laughing for about five minutes, and then I’d calmly gather myself, stand up and slap him in the face.

0

0

Cole

I’ll bet the interior was beautiful before they “restored” it. Just what are we getting
for our $164 million? I’ll pass…

0

0

LOLuGUISE

C’mon, guys. Who do you think you are that you can comment on international real-estate pricing with such conviction? Sure the price is high, but apparently most of you are completely oblivious to “what is Bishop’s Avenue.”

As much time as some of you spend on this site, one would think you would eventually learn that these ultra-high dollar properties are always listed for more than they are sold for. There are a plethora of reasons for this I won’t get into now. But I do not doubt that this property (one of the most special in all of Britain) will sell for close to $100m. I’d pretty much echo “Scott’s” comment as the only level headed and educated here.

0

0

VISIT OUR SISTER SITE

Homes of the Rich is the #1 luxury real estate blog on the web. We post all the latest million dollar homes & mansions to hit the market from all over the world. Since 2008 over 12 million "luxury real estate obsessed" people have visited the site